About Massa, I think it's too early to decide. He's only gone the duration of 2 of the 4 races with the 2 DNF's coming from car problems. At Malaysia, the team fucked up qualifying and he couldn't defend his time to advance and started 16th in the grid. Despite not having enough time to move up since the race was called early, he placed 9th. He was pretty slow in Bahrain tho, even tho he had to pit early with wing damage. Bottom line - he hasn't had a race without an incident that wasn't his fault and he can't fairly be judged until that he does

Your top 5 is pretty good. I have to agree that Alonso is probably the most skilled driver in the series. Hamilton would be my #2 though, then Kimi & Vettel. #5 would go to Kubica or Button. Hard to say what's up with Kubica so far, because the BMW is clearly way behind the rest of the top teams. Buemi looks like he'll end up being a great driver.

how does kimi make that list? he just got his first points this last race....

The Ferrari chassis is to blame, not Kimi. Kimi clearly has proven that he is one of the most skilled drivers in F1. Last year he didn't try that hard, and it showed, but when he wants to win, he is able to extract every bit of potential out of the car.

The Ferrari chassis is to blame, not Kimi. Kimi clearly has proven that he is one of the most skilled drivers in F1. Last year he didn't try that hard, and it showed, but when he wants to win, he is able to extract every bit of potential out of the car.

Yea and then he blows up the car! Being a skilled driver is also knowing when not to push your car to its limit at every second when you know the car may have reliability issues.

Your top 5 is pretty good. I have to agree that Alonso is probably the most skilled driver in the series. Hamilton would be my #2 though, then Kimi & Vettel. #5 would go to Kubica or Button. Hard to say what's up with Kubica so far, because the BMW is clearly way behind the rest of the top teams. Buemi looks like he'll end up being a great driver.

That's what makes Kimi cool. He doesn't care about that stuff. He just wants to go fast. If the car blows up it's not his fault/problem.

Thanks for agreeing with me then. Hence, there is a contradiction with him being a skilled driver. It is a necessary condition for him to look after his car for him to be a skilled driver in the first instance.

Agree, Kimi is not technical and he sucks at testing/car setup/car development
probably due to a lack of interest than anything else..

He is quick though, can't take that away from him..
As for Button, I include him in the top 5 since he is outperforming and outqualifying Rubens with the same car, I think he is one of the top drivers in terms of sheer pace

Your top 5 is pretty good. I have to agree that Alonso is probably the most skilled driver in the series. Hamilton would be my #2 though, then Kimi & Vettel. #5 would go to Kubica or Button. Hard to say what's up with Kubica so far, because the BMW is clearly way behind the rest of the top teams. Buemi looks like he'll end up being a great driver.

Button is a tough call. It's conjecture based on how he handles the car, but clearly his ride has the best dynamics so far this season. He has always seemed to be a very good driver though, and I bet he'd have done very well on better teams.

The Ferrari chassis is to blame, not Kimi. Kimi clearly has proven that he is one of the most skilled drivers in F1. Last year he didn't try that hard, and it showed, but when he wants to win, he is able to extract every bit of potential out of the car.

but at the same time, car and driver go hand in hand. if the car isn't there, then i don't believe the driver should be there either. without the car, the driver is just another human.

but at the same time, car and driver go hand in hand. if the car isn't there, then i don't believe the driver should be there either. without the car, the driver is just another human.

We're assuming they all have the same equipment. There is a clear disparity in the level of driving skill between the 20 current drivers. These are 20 of the best drivers in the world, but I think it's clear that Alonso, Hamilton or Kimi would be able to run quicker laps than Piquet in the same car.

We're assuming they all have the same equipment. There is a clear disparity in the level of driving skill between the 20 current drivers. These are 20 of the best drivers in the world, but I think it's clear that Alonso, Hamilton or Kimi would be able to run quicker laps than Piquet in the same car.

true. and if we were to look at it like that, then i could say hamilton would probably be on top of the best drivers list. why? up until bahrain, he's had terrible starting positions, but managed to fight back and gain significant position. despite a DQ, look what he did in australia. i haven't seen anything similar out of any of the other drivers.

I'm hoping he ends up with BMW. If he can win in the Red Bull he should be able to win in the BMW. Plus he used to be one of their reserve drivers.

That would be awesome, but I am sure Ferrari's offer would be more enticing and more $$$... Every driver secretly wants to wear the Maraleno colors
Ferrari drivers go from superstars to idols overnight